What's happening in your neck of the woods .. 2012 :-)

Nice seeing you post "M"..thrilled that we do not have to content with blizzard, that alone makes us smile

Had a busy/busy morning, now if the afternoon could go as well

Susan Garden Retreat is over near Chinook, they are on line also

Ann - dont much get to know people except some of the nurses are familiar after a while. Rarely ever see people twice - depends on the times/days/ lengths of appointments I guess. There are some support groups and I guess one could meet people regularly more that way but I am not involved in any of them.

I am off to AQsize this afternoon. I started going when I was previously having chemo and kept it up for 3-4 years but have not done it now for a long time. Figured to start again as it is good way to get me out. Go to a 50+ class two afternoons a week.

Carol, you seem to have everything under control. Good . I must admitt I have moved some snow just to try and keep a few bits on a west edge of a raised garden but I'm not in the middle of Chemo either. Keeping your car plugged in is a good thing but just so you know if you are able you only need it plugged in for 2-3 hours before you use it. That is not always convienent though.
I decided that I was able to manage my Begonias well last year so I will use the same method this year. I think once they start I hate to not help them.
M good to see you here.
Betty, you are always busy not just in the mornings,LOL

Alberta Ann

Remind me how you did your begonias.

I think what happened to mine was first I bought some rather early at Sunnyside just because I knew I wanted them and then I started them too early. At one point I had to move them because there were hitting the lights and the best place was out in the porch which was not nearly enough light compared to under the lights. So I need to start them much later I think. Wish I had kept track of the dates! They would have had better light out in the shed which gets very warm on sunny days but it was still getting cool at nights and I cannot put a heater out there. They might actually be better in the kitchen window- the SE corner on top o f the dog crate might work best.

Carol - as I never purchase stuff online, I'll need to go see Garden Retreat. I'll check their website first, but sometimes places have different stuff online as opposed to their physical store.

Betty, hope you are working from home tbis morning. Just spoke with Lornas folks, and, they say it's quite a mess!!
Lots of accidents due to the snow/rain.

Am going to try and venture out today, fingers crossed, won,t be alone.

tgif

M

~M~ - do take care while driving!!!
I think Betty's at home working this week?!?!

Susan you would need to visit the store anyway - not so much on the website- they carry loads of good stuff. In summer they have plants.mainly veggie and annuals.

Carol, I sit the corms out untill they sprout then use a big tray filled with peat or vermiculite lightly dampened. I push them in bulk into the tray and sit under lights that are about an inch from the corms, I keep the light very close as they start to grow and move it up slightly as needed. After they get a set of leaves I transplant into a pot each and move the corm to under the soil , I bottom water so as not get the top dish of the corm wet and grow on in a cooler location with the lights and a fan. I have found that once they are going cooler is better and the lights close to foliage ensures the leggyness is minimized.

Alberta Ann

Morning, almost afternoon isn't it..yes working from home today..starting the 3rd I will be home. Til 14th as everyone will be in Jamaica..omg they just got back!! But I'll so enjoy just relaxing / taking calls and having girls over.

Yes "M" bad weather, clearing a tad here but just a bit south roads are horrific. I'm hoping by early morning(5am) it will have passed us on and I can spend the day in Buffalo..Joann's fabrics and Debbie from Dg are calling me. Lol

You are all so knowledgeable and committed to your plants/gardens..gee whiz, I throw something into the ground, kind of hap hazardly and if it lives it lives..ive tried many times to start from seed, not cheap either when the get leggy and die before p,acting time..envy you all

Ann thanks I will keep that this year! When do you start them? I have not bought any yet.

Carol
I have 3 viable corms I have saved over winter. Let the frost get them a little bit and then dried out the soil, broke most of the soil off and put them in a bucket under the sink(next to the wall) in my basement. I checked on them and noticed a small bit of growth so brought them out and set them on damp vermiculite. If I see any mold I spray with regular Lysol. I will take a photo of them and you can see how big they are. I believe it's their 4th summer with me, coming up.
I have lost a few and will be adding some this year and they are on order with Botanus.
Alberta Ann

Wasn't driving yesterday, good thing. Went into the dry cleaners to plck up some cleaning, ended up having to have a chair brought out as i was going into faint mode!!

Home i came and back to bed :(
Today ..so so.

M

Carol - thanks, will need to visit there. I like the "hands-on" approach to buying anyway. No waiting for the mails lol
Yesterday someone at work said "You're missing out on a lot by not buying stuff online". Maybe........ but the only financial transactions I do online are banking, and paying bills. I also don't have to pay shipping, or wait for the product which may not be as it's picture portrays. I do get from Air Miles, however they always send same or better if they run out.
also, not as much impulse buying.... what's out of my pocket is gone, and I'm not using a credit card! I'm just not a "fan" of credit cards.........

btw - I'm growing an amarylis - and it's leaning. any suggestions on either propping it up, or repotting it? I'm afraid the shock of repotting will disturb it and kill the blooms, but I have another bud growing and don't want to do that.
This is what it looks like now. It's in the original pot.

Just put a support stick in the pot and tie it up with a ribbon!

I like to grow mine in very tall clear vases and the sides support the flowers.

Susan ...beauty flower!!
My Mom always 'propped' hers ..used knitting needles once as i recall. Guess you just have to be delicate about it.

Back to reading my book


M

Just back from buffalo..left 6:30 this mornimg and just got home...hey you gals, couldn't you wait to send me the Alberta Clipper my way along with hight winds..yikes was horrendous..talk about smiling and praying when I pulled into the yard!

awwwwww Betty - our Calgary Chinooks bring warm weather!! Dunno about the Alberta Clipper - maybe that's the Northern version of the chinook?

ooooh just checked Wikipedia - a Clipper brings the COLD weather........ I prefer chinooks!!

And both bring winds!

Morning all..

Beautiful out there, clipper moves quickly, sure wish I had known it was travelling my way before leaving for Buffalo but it all ended well!

Just don't be sending one my way again! Lol

So what will you all be doing this beautiful Sunday??

Hi folks,

We played a really special piece of music this morning for organ, piano, handbells and choir. If we'd had space and finances, we could also have added a brass quartet, but we didn't. 53rd anniversary Sunday of Emmanuel United Church in Ottawa and the piece is a version of A Mighty Fortress. I got to conduct it all. The entire service was based around testimonies from the music groups in the church and looked back on some of the earlier incarnations as well as the latest ones. The junior choir sang and we brought it all together with the postlude on this piece.

If you'd like to listen, the service is on line at:
http://www.emmanuelunited.ca/

Go to #5 of the slide show on the home page and click. You can download an mp3 file. It was a long service, but fast forward to 1:24 if you don't want to listen to all of it.

VERY enthusiastic response from the congregation and we were all so thrilled at how it came together that we almost wonder "What next".

Carol - yes, and STRONG winds!! Here I thought that Winnipeg was a windy city! Calgary beats Winnipeg "all hollow"!! LOL

Tried to access the link ViAnn, but either this tablet won,t allow it,or, I did something incorrectly once the link opened. Once I get back on my laptop I'll try again, would love to hear the service.

You Westerners may haveBIG wind, but mt backyard is just chuck full of BIRDS !!!! All kinds,butmainly purple finches, redpolls, grossbeaks , chickadees and nuthatches .... the ground under the feeders is alive with activity, then, all of a sudden .. POOF .. off they fly only to come back in a second or two :)
AsI am STILL in bed, it'snice to watch them.
I did find enough energy to bake a pie, and have theingredients for beef stroganoff ready to go, so, maybe a better
day. Face is still uncomfortable, and bp is way too low.

Nap time

M

I'm just cold, but it's a good time to curl up with all the books I made notes to read during the rest of the year.

And seed catalogues. Woo-hoo!

Going to start my tomatoes a little earlier this year I think and see if I can get some besides the cherry and grape tomatoes to eat before the end of August.

Oh, and someone talking about good deeds (Carol your lap blanket is lovely) I saw a video a couple days ago, started out with a camera at a McDonalds where a cop was buying lunch. A little black boy (this was in a US city) came up and asked the cop if he could have 10 cents, as he was short that much. the cop asked him what he wanted and bought it for him. Talked to the child about what he wanted to do when he grew up, how he had to work hard and practice. then he took his own lunch out to the cruiser, threw it in the back seat, drove a half a block and was killed by shotgun fire. Story brought tears to my eyes, and would love to find out more about it if anyone runs across it and finds out who shot the cop and why, or was he just in the wrong place/wrong time. they interviewed the little boy and he was quite affected knowing that the act of kindness to him was this cop's last action in life.

ttyl,
~marilyn

VIOLAANN Lovely, the link worked for me and I enjoyed the solo at the beginning too! thanks for sharing you are a very talented lady.

"M" you need to get your BP back to a normal rate or you may have other trouble. I love watching the birdies at my feeder too and it's been so warm lately that they all chirp away by my window and it seems to me that it's happy little noises.

Cybercrone, I too have been going through all the seed catalouges and have chosen a few things but I over did it with an order for Botanus so I need to take it easy or I will run out of room.
What a story! So sad and yet so heartwarming all at the same time, I would have liked to meet this guy.

Alberta Ann

Evening all, streamers off Georgian Bay still in my area,,can't see one minute, the next clear as can be. Now home, in my Jammie's being lazy..

ViolaAnn, hmm went on the site,msaw photo on left but couldn't find where to watch..will continue to search

"M" sorry to hear you are still under the weather..low blood pressure is not good! Have been seeing birds in great numbers as well in the fields, guess they are as confused about the weather as we are.

marilyn, the story was touching! Bet the conversation will have an everlasting effect on the young man..sad!

Need to go to GardenGallery just to walk and see their spring set up..we sure are getting the 'garden' bug again

Here you go...


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2026854/Pictured-Jeremy-Henwood-buys-child-McDonalds-meal-shot-dead.html

For any who had difficulty with the music link, there's now a direct link on the handbell page to a shorter clip with only the music - http://www.emmanuelunited.ca/worship_renewal/bells.php

Go to:
January 29, 2012, performance of "A Mighty Fortress" for organ (Faye), piano (Theresa), handbells and choir.

However it's still an mp3 file and you need something like iTunes to read it.

Ann

Thanks Ann .. will try the link in a bit.

Just back from the oral surgeon .. had to call this morning .. Diagnosis .. dry socket along with an infection :(
Am required to irrigate the area with some vile tasting fluid, and, antibiotics for a week. Fingers crossed it all works!!!

Mild temps, and, sloppy roads are the order of the day here.


Take care

~M~

ewwww Marilyn. That would be very irritating - dry socket!
What's the name of the vile-tasting fluid? (Enquiring minds want to know!)

Marilyne You have my sympathy.....a dry socket.....horrible!!I'm recovering from pneumonia.I'd rather have pneumonia than a dry socket.....also have a case of winter blues.I hate to admit it after reading of all the activities of you girls.I do have a bright spot ..my Christmas Amaryllis "Exotic Peacock".It lives up to its'name

wow - that's Beautiful. Mine is all red, no white.

Susan .. the stuff is called ' Oro Clens '
Seems to be working ... painful deal though.

M

Oh, I have that stuff. Maybe it's just awful to you because of the dry socket? It's got Chlorhexidine Gluconate in it, so I'm guessing that's chlorine - no wonder it's painful!!! Oh yeah, and alcohol!!!!

Joy, Beautiful flower!
"M" hope you are on the mend now!
alberta Ann

Busy at work, back in a bit but boy do I love that Amaryllis!

Hope all who aren't well are feeling better today...

you'd think it's spring here

:) Happy to say I am on the mend!! Antibiotics have kicked in, and I have rejoined the land of the living!!!
Taking it slow though.

Cheers

M

I'm feeling better today too.I made Blue Berry Bran muffins and cleaned up my big Kitchen.Also cooked supper for me myself and I.I go for an Xray on feb6.Tomorrow I go to the plastic surgeon.He took a cancer off the side of my face.I went in last week and he removed the stitches but told me to come back this week for the report from the pathologist.I think a phone call would have been sufficient but then he wouldn't have been paid for an office call.No wonder the health system is having financial problems.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay for "feeling-better-type- people"!!!!